A turning tide is dangerous
The tide is turning and not just because the PM’s job is under threat.
Sniff the air and smell the coffee, force yourself to read the endless self-justifying columns by those Brexit commentators and listen to the mood music.
The tone has changed.
We never wanted to leave the Single Market, they bleat.
We were dealt a bad hand and were forced into a deal we did not want, they moan.
We should have compromised after the vote, they whimper.
This is not what we wanted, they shriek.
Let’s be like Norway or Switzerland, its the obvious solution, they back-peddle.
While it is true many of these people are doubling down and saying the UK must slash regulations and shred safety nets to “take advantage” of Brexit, I sense their heart isn’t in it.
They know they have lost. The damage is too great, the queues at the airport too slow, the trade figures too bad, the workforce too small, inflation too high, growth too low, the red tape too long, the SME’s too angry.
Some are so deeply into this fantasy world of Brexit opportunity that “Returning were as tedious as go o'er”, but that cadre is getting smaller. The clever ones are hedging their bets, slipping away in the night, quietly paddling away from the sinking ship, turning their coats, rewriting their histories.
Boris Johnson can sense this too, that is where the danger lies. He is willing to do anything to stay on top of that greasy pole; lie, cheat, destroy the Union.
He now has one last throw of the dice, to tear up the Northern Ireland Protocol, spit in Washington’s eye, start a fight he cannot win with Brussels and play the jingoist card.
Just to keep his ego fed one last time.
But the tide is still turning.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.